Every story from every issue: leads, charts, index readings, grading explainers and quick hits.
Pokemon.com published the full September product list: six 30th Celebration products on September 16, including a Poster Collection with the legendary birds and a Pokemon Center ETB with 11 packs. The set runs 199 cards, every card foil, six per pack.
Read itMonday's Base Set Pikachu showed a grade cliff: nothing below a 10 was worth much. This week's quiz card, a 2019 Cosmic Eclipse secret-rare Pikachu in PSA 9, shows the opposite shape, and why.
Read itVintage posts its biggest reading in seven with Team Rocket Returns, EX Unseen Forces, Neo Genesis and Skyridge leading and Base Set up 1.1%; modern flat with Celebrations and Ascended Heroes lower. Full tables.
Read itThe vintage basket has posted a positive reading every week since August 13 and the readings are getting larger, not smaller. Here is the full history, what is driving it, and what would make us call it a rally.
Read itA PSA 10 First Edition Neo Genesis Lugia sold for $360,000 on Fanatics Collect on August 31, 25 bids, against $205,794 for the same card and grade on Alt in June. The Gold Star repricing has reached the Neo era.
Read itAndrew Hedrick decked out Diego Cassiraga for the TCG Masters title at a sold-out Chase Center, the Mega Greninja ex League Battle Deck was revealed for November 13, both tin lines shipped Friday, and Worlds 2027 is in Singapore without PokemonXP.
Read itThe Base Set Pikachu was printed by the million and sells raw for a few dollars. In PSA 10 our mark is $493. The whole value is the grade, and the grade is rare because 1999 print quality made 10s hard to get.
Read itVintage +0.4% with EX Team Rocket Returns, EX Unseen Forces and Skyridge leading; modern -0.1% with Ascended Heroes and Celebrations lower. The six-week scoreboard and full tables.
Read itThree public sales of the same 2005 card inside nine days, in PSA 6, CGC 10 and CGC 10 Pristine. The ladder from a mid-grade to the finest known copy is 24 to 1, and the top rung is almost all label.
Read itA CGC 10 Pristine EX Deoxys Rayquaza Gold Star sold for $1,020,000 at Fanatics Premier, beating the $954,800 First Edition Charizard record from February. Pokemon swept the top five again; the five sold for $1.85 million.
Read itA PSA 10 EX Deoxys Rayquaza ex re-marked from $35,000 to $85,000 after the Gold Star auction, Team Rocket's Ambition runs a month of missions, Worlds streams with Twitch drops, and even PSA's $599 tier got slower.
Read itWith the $80 Regular tier at 70-80 business days, the question is not whether a card will gem but whether the uplift covers the fee, the wait and the risk of a 9. A simple rule for each tier.
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